"There's a gold mine out there ... find it and it's yours." This deathbed confession set the wheels of fate in motion and Sam Milton's life was never the same. Armed
with a cryptic riddle and some scant details about a puzzling myth, he
set out on a quest that crossed the expanse of Texas.The
realistic, matter-of-fact storytelling will suck you into Sam's world
and you'll find yourself absorbed by the suspense and mystery of his
obsession. It's not so much about the goal, it's about his struggle of
self and purpose, as he seeks an elusive path to success and
redemption. As you hike along in his dusty boots, you'll begin to wonder to yourself, how far would you go to feed yourfever?

After years of frustration and sacrifice, Sam Milton’s life seems to be
on track. In The Fever he got the girl, he found the mine, and he hopes
he'll soon have the gold, but he forgot one minor detail: the curse
and its ripples are affecting almost everyone around him.

The Mossback Cafe CookbookTexas Cooking from the Pages of The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep

"The Mossback" made its first appearance in the pages of Thomas Fenske's debut novel, THE FEVER, when owner Smidgeon Toll delivered a massive serving of Huevos Rancheros Especial to Sam, that book's hero, and proudly exclaimed:

"There, what do you think of that?"The description of gooey, spicy, goodness that followed spurred several readers to ask the author, "Is that a real dish?" Now you can see for yourself!Fiction has become kitchen.Smidgeon will entertain you with her quirky, homespun wisdom as she shares a mini-history of the cafe along with some insight into what helps to make The Mossback a unique and delightful locale in the world of fictional eateries.Along the way you'll learn how to make her awesome square biscuits. She also reveals details about the full-sized heap of bacon they serve on "THAT BLT," and introduces readers to other local favorites like the "Double Trouble Dog" and what has to be the "Best-Danged Buttermilk Pie" you've ever tasted. As an added bonus, she has agreed to share her famous Potato Salad Secret, something surprising and simple that will take even the best potato salad recipe and crank it up a notch, maybe two!Simply put, these are all part of what would have made The Mossback Cafe famous, well, if it actually existed.So hop out of your pickup truck and mosey on in ... there just might be some breakfast tacos or enchiladas lurking in your future.

Texas native Thomas Fenske currently lives in North Carolina but
he allows a combined hankering for Chicken-Fried Steak, Chili, Texas
BBQ, and real, honest-to-goodness Tex-Mex food be the guiding force in
his writing life. He has driven farm-to-market highways and county roads in search of the best local food. He's ridden the back country looking for lost calves (well, once, anyway), and hiked the Guadalupe Mountains. He's
rafted the Rio Grande and suffered through waves of mosquitoes in The
Big Thicket. He's endured hurricanes and ice storms, battled hail,
wind, floods, and blistered in the heat of the long Texas summers. Why did he leave? He asks himself that almost every day and longs to
return (actually, it was for a job to better provide for his family). He'd
like to say he was a product of the famed writing program at the
University of Houston, but in fact that program came into being the year
after he graduated. This is but one of dozens of similar coincidences
that have been the story of his life ... He and his lovely wife of
thirty years currently share their home with eight cats and one
ninety-something pound dog. Somehow, he manages to write amidst the
chaos.How does Thomas Fenske deal with writer’s block?Thomas Fenske says: Just try to write anything. If I am really blocked on a particular section of a book, I wonder who I can kill ... I mean characters. If I am that out of ideas, somebody has to die. It opens doors. Every other major character has to deal with it.